


Childhood Dreams

by JustAnotherFanfictionWriter



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Cute, Fluffy, Gen, childhood AU, it's a story about their childhood, kinda??
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-28 02:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6311101
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustAnotherFanfictionWriter/pseuds/JustAnotherFanfictionWriter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is the new kid at school. He's not really the most popular, but for some reason the most popular kid wants to keep talking to him. His friend, Alex, doesn't like the popular kid--named James Buchanan Barnes--but this puts Steve in an awkward position (at least for a kid). Does he keep hanging out with his friend Alex while also trying to kindle a friendship with James, or does he choose one of them? Steve had never really thought this hard about friendships before...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Childhood Dreams

                Steve stared at the big new school, chewing on his lip and shuffling awkwardly. His mother stood behind him, smiling down at the child.

                “Try not to get into fights at this one, okay?” Sara asked him.

                “I don’t think I can promise that.” Steve winced, “What was wrong with my old school?”

                “Steve, You’ll be fine.” Sara soothed, kneeling down.

                Steve turned around, pouting at his mother. He nodded, hugging her tightly.

                “Just remember to give the doctor’s note to the nurse, and you won’t have to run around.” Sara reminded Steve, “And please take it easy. Try to make friends.”

                Steve let his mother go, nodding again. He had the note folded neatly in his pocket. Steve turned to the large building and walked up the stairs nervously. Steve glanced around as he approached the front door of the school. Some kids with bats sat a little away from him, and they looked mean. On the other side of him, there was one boy surrounded by a few girls. He had a smile that made his heartbeat quicken, but he didn’t know why.

                Steve got inside swiftly, wondering where he was supposed to go. Steve shoved his hands on his pockets, making sure the note was still there. With a sigh, Steve began to silently wander around.

                “Lost?” A kid asked him.

                The kid was scrawny, like him. Steve gave the boy a nervous smile and nodded.

                “Can you take me to the nurse?” Steve asked him, trying to be polite, “I need to give her a note.”

                “Sure!” The kid smirked, nudging his head.

                The kid walked with a limp, but it didn’t bother Steve. The two walked in silence as they made their way through the halls, though Steve felt a little uncomfortable. They made it to the nurse’s office, the kid glancing back at Steve and smiling at him.

                “I’ll wait here for you, okay?” The kid asked.

                “Thanks.” Steve smiled.

                Steve took a deep breath and pushed the door open after knocking. He nervously licked his lips and walked up to the nurse, who watched him idly. Steve pulled out the note and handed it to the woman. She took it from him and wordlessly read it, eyeing Steve on occasion.

                “Is this all?” She asked him.

                “Y-yes.” Steve stammered.

                “You can go now.” The woman smiled.

                Steve nodded and stepped out of the room, taking a sigh of relief. He never liked handing over those notes to nurses. He was always scared they would reject them or make fun of him.

                “Hey, what’s your name?” The kid asked Steve.

                “I’m Steve.” Steve replied, “You?”

                “My name’s Alex.” The kid grinned.

                Steve smiled up at Alex. Alex put an arm around Steve as they walked back to the front of the school, going to figure out what class Steve would be in. Steve hoped he would be in the same classroom as his new friend, but as fate would have it they weren’t in the same class.

                “It’s okay.” Alex shrugged, “We can still talk during recess.”

                Alex looked sad. Steve smiled and nodded, allowing Alex to guide him around the school for the next few minutes. When the bell rang, Alex ran off to his class. He’d left Steve in front of his, so Steve just stood there nervously.

                “You’re the new kid, right?” A kid asked.

                Steve turned and saw the big mean kid. Steve took a nervous step back, but didn’t shrink away from him.

                “Yeah.” Steve said.

                “Listen here, and listen good.” The kid frowned, “You’re gonna do what I say, when I say it.”

                “No I won’t.” Steve replied, even though he was scared, “I’ll do what I want when I want.”

                The kid clenched his jaw.

                “I don’t want to be mean to you, and I don’t want to fight you.” Steve told him, “So let’s just put this behind us.”

                “Dillan.” The teacher spoke sharply.

                The kid glared at Steve, walking into class. The teacher came outside and knelt in front of Steve.

                “Hey there. You must be Steve Rodgers?” The teacher asked.

                Steve nodded nervously.

                “You can hang up your bag on the hooks outside of the classroom.” The teacher smiled.

                Steve nodded again and hung his bag up, following the teacher inside as she walked. She stopped Steve before he could pick a seat, leaving everyone else to pick one. Steve felt his cheeks burn as everyone stared at him. He didn’t like this attention.

                “Okay class.” The teacher started, “We have a new student. Why don’t you introduce yourself?”

                Steve swallowed nervously.

                “My name is Steve.” Steve spoke stiffly.

                A few kids in the class giggled at him. Steve winced. Steve saw the kid from earlier watching him, that same smile on his face. Steve got butterflies in his stomach as he watched the kid.

                “You may take a seat, Steve.” The teacher told him.

                Steve stiffly nodded and looked around the class. The only two seats happened to be next to the kid that was smiling at him, or next to Dillan. Steve sat next to the smiling boy nervously, putting his notebooks down. He nervously picked up the pencil he had and tried to ignore the kid next to him, but the blush stared on his face.

                Class was easy to pay attention to when everyone stopped staring at Steve. He was able to focus on the lesson and stop freaking out. The kid next to him kept trying to distract him, but Steve did his best to ignore the boy. He wanted to leave a good impression on his new school. But, when the recess bell rang, the kid was able to stop him and smile at him. Steve stayed in his seat, uncomfortable.

                “So, Steve.” The kid smirked, “What made you sit by me?”

                “I…uh…” Steve stammered, “I didn’t want to sit next to Dillan.”

                “Makes sense.” The kid shrugged, “The name’s James.”

                “Hi James.” Steve was about to say his name again, but he stopped himself.

                “Some of my friends call me Jim, but I don’t like it. So don’t call me anything but James.” James said, winking.

                Steve nodded. James left the room shortly after, shaking his head. Steve got out of his seat nervously, following in the shadow of James. Steve put all of his stuff in his backpack, taking out his packed lunch and his “sketchbook”, which was just another notebook that he repurposed as one. Steve made his way back to Alex, who was standing in the hallway watching him with a grin. Steve waved politely at Alex, and smiled.

                “Why do you have your notebook?” Alex asked, “It’s recess!”

                “I can’t do a lot of stuff.” Steve told him, “I can’t really run around and play because my heart is weak, and I’ve got asthma.”  

                Alex stared at Steve, his lips pressed together. Alex nodded and guided Steve downstairs slowly, allowing Steve to walk at his own pace. It annoyed him slightly, since he wouldn’t die if he walked too fast. He walked at a normal pace, to spite Alex slightly. He was glad that Alex was concerned about him, but it bothered him when people were too concerned about him.

                When they got outside, Steve sat in the shade. He sketched the kids who ran by the pair roughly, just getting their figures down. He wasn’t the best, but he liked to. It was fun.

                “You’re really good!” Alex breathed.

                “Thanks.” Steve smiled, glancing up, “I’ve been drawing for a while.”

                “Do you like drawing people things?” Alex asked.

                Steve wanted to say no, but he shrugged. He didn’t answer Alex as James walked up, studying the little notebook.

                “Hey Steve, Alex.” James said.

                “Jim.” Alex responded.

                Alex smiled at the small glare he received from James. Steve nudged Alex.

                “What’cha want?” Steve asked James.

                “Why are ya in the shade?” James asked, “You could be out playing like the others.”

                “He’s got asthma.” Alex answered before Steve could open his mouth.

                “I wasn’t askin’ you, kid.” James shot at him.

                “Alex is right; I do have asthma.” Steve sighed, “I’ve also got a weak heart.”

                “So?” James asked.

                “I get heat stroke really quickly too if I’m running outside without water.” Steve elaborated.

                James pressed his lips together and leaned against the wall. He was clearly one of the cool kids. Steve almost felt privileged that James came up and talked to him, out of all the kids on the playground.

                “That’s no good.” James sighed, “Come on. Let’s go play.”

                “I kinda wanna just sit here today.” Steve smiled at James, “Maybe later.”

                “Suit yourself.” James shrugged, “But you’re not as weak as you think.”

                James darted off with a couple other boys, kicking a soccer ball in front of them. Steve watched them, a little confused. He was also in awe at what James had told him. Alex scoffed and folded his arms, dragging Steve’s attention away from where James and his friends were playing.

                “I don’t like him.” Alex mumbled, “He’s mean.”

                “He seems nice.” Steve countered.

                “He’s not. I don’t like hanging out with him. He’s always picking on me.” Alex shot back.

                “Really?” Steve asked, almost falling for it.

                “Yeah.” Alex sighed, “It’s because I have a limp. He’s always passively making fun of me for it.”

                Steve watched James as the kids ran around, and how athletic James seemed to be. He would take the ball from the other kids and score, and he would jump around. Steve wished he could be playing with them.

                “Kids like him are nice to you at first.” Alex began to explain, “But then the more you know them the meaner they get. And then they’re just flat out making fun of you until you fight back. But of course, he’s the most popular kid here, and no teacher believes me when I tell them he’s being cruel to me.”

                Steve watched Alex as he stared at his feet. Steve put an arm around Alex, smiling at him.

                “I’d believe you.” Steve told him.

                Alex stared at Steve and gave him a small smile. Steve smiled back at him, returning to his sketching. He made a mental note to stop talking to James, since James was mean to his new friend. It was one of the only things he could do.

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone else has some headcanons about Steve and Bucky when they were little, feel free to tell them to me! Also: It's surprisingly hard to refer to "Bucky" as "James" when writing this.


End file.
